Snapping platen for printing and addressing machines



Aug. 16, 1932. H. E. HUBBARD SNAPPING PLATEN FOR PRINTING AND ADDRESSING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 215, 1929 Aug. 16, 1932. v H. E. HUBBARD 1,871,993

SNAPPING PLATEN FOR PRINTING AND ADDRESSING MACHINES Filed Feb. 23, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug, 16 132. HQVE. HUBBARD 1,871,993

SNAPPING ZLATEN FOR PRINTING AND ADDRESSING MACHINES Filed Fb. 25, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Aug 15 1&32. H. E. HUBBARD SNAPPING PLATEN FOR PRINTING AND ADDRESSING MACHINES Filed Feb. 23, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. 16, 1932 HENRY E. HUBBARD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORTi'l illlDfifiSsfifi'fifi'flfiCOMPANY,

, are eate RFC" OF CHICGQELLIN'OIS, A- COR-PGRA'EIQN DnLA-YZARE SNAPPING PLATnNFon PRINTINGnrinnnnnnssine MAoHIiIns Application filed February 23,1929. Serial-No. 341,935; v V

' movement of the platen independent of the platen arm so that the actual impression operation may be effected by the platen in a much quicker movement than that of the platen arm.

And another object of the invention is to provide a spring-actuated platen which is tensioned at each printing operation to impart a quick impression movement to the platen and return of the platen from impression position.

I have illustrated the invention in an addressing machine of the type which employs a reciprocating platen arm and a fiat-taced platen, as a simple and easily understood embodiment and referring thereto Fig. 1 is a top plan view of so much of the machine as is necessary for understanding the invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevation machine showing the in normalposition. V

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. l is an elevation at the other side of the machine and also showing the platen and platen arm in normal position.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view.

Fig. 6 shows the parts in full lines at the limit of the printing stroke of the platen arm and the platen in broken lines ready for the impression stroke. i

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 77 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings 8 designates generally the bed frame of the machine, 9

at one side of the platen and platen arm the platen arm pivoted l0 onthe frame,- 11 the cam pit' o-ted at operating the platen operated by loot pedal or in any suitable manner.

by power applied The p I'lntl11g."Cl6VlC6 13 may be fed by hano or automaticallyto printing position beneath airink ribbon lei inted" may also be and the sheet 15 to be 7 fed by hand or automatically into prin ng position beneath the platen 16f This'plat is carried by a p 18 on the platen arm. A spring 19 is'fastened at 19 to the platen arm and at 19" to an extension 17 on the platen'support 17. A latch :20 is pivoted at and it has a recess which are en aged by a roller 24 on an arm 25 of a rocker 26 which ispivoted at-Q? on the platen arm, Another arm 28 on "the rockcr is connected by a link 29 with one armBO of a rocker 31' on the shaft 10. 32 on the rocker 31 is connected with the cam 11. i A spring 20 in contact with an adjusting bolt 85 on the platen support 1. An arm 3621s loosely mounted on the shaft 18 and it has an end by link 33 plate 86 thereon projectinglaterally 03 6i". rigid on the platen'sup-j the end of an arm 37 port l'l. A cushion pad 38-is arranged between the plate 36" and'the arm 37, being mounted on one ofthese parts. ing screw 39 on the platen arm is limit the movement of the by limit the downward platen. A snubher lever on the platen arm and it 41 which is held against a roller l2 by'a spring43, Figs. 8, 'Z.

In the ordinary operation ofan'addressarm 36 and there ing machine embodying a reciprocating flat the'printing deplaten the platen ar'm and vice feed are coordinated so that a printing device is fed to printing position, and the.

platen arm is operated for each impression operation of the machine. The printing device which has printed'is discharged froin' printing posit on on the'return movement of the platen arm, but the printing devicew feed cannot operate until the platen is moved free from the printing device, otherwise there 12 on the frame and arm, this cam being support 17 which 'ispivoted at 21 on the extension 1'7" and an inclined edge 23 holds the latch An adjn'st arranged to movement or the i0 s pivoted at has a cam surface Another -arm 7 its support moving with the platen than has been customary heretofore.

will be a smear or blur of the impression on the sheet. t is equally desirable that the printing device should be at rest in printing position before the platen makes the printing impression from the printing device. Therefore, to speed the printing device feed and to obtain a clear and neat printing impression it is important to impart to the platen a snap impression movement to make it operate quickly, strike its impression blow and withdraw from printing position, and this is accomplished by the invention herein disclosed. This snap impression movement also enables clearer and more manifold copies to be made As the platen arm is operated by the cam 11 or any other means, by hand, by a foot pedal or by power, to travel forward on the down stroke in the impression operation, it moves from the position Figs. 2 and 4: to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 6, the platen and arm and in substantially the same position thereon. The platen arm reaches the limit of its down stroke when the roller 9thereon engages the arcuate bearing surface 11 on the cam 11, but further movement of the cam causes the rocker 26 to continue its travel as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 6 and the roller will be carried by the arm 25 into engagement with the inclined edge 23 of the latch 20. The latch is held by the spring 34tin engage ment with the adjusting screw 35 which is supported with the latch on the platen support 17 and as the roller 2d rides along the inclined edge 23 it will swing the platen support, raise the platen to the broken line position Fig. 6, and tension the spring 19 until the roller rides over the end of the latch whereupon the platen support will be released, and the spring 19 will impart a quick down impression movement vto the platen. This down movement of the platen is limited by the adjusting screw 89 the blow of the platen is softened and cushioned. by the pad 38 located between the arm 3'? and the plate 36 Fig. 5. On the im the platen the roller. 42 on the platen support arm 36 is caused to ride on the inclined edge 41 of the snubber lever 40 and swing this lever on its pivot 40 to tension the spring e3, 7 and immediately after the impression blow of the platen the spring 13 returns the snubber lever to normal position and the inclined cam edge 41 operating against the roller 42 causes the arm 36 of the platen siipport to swing the platen support and the platen quickly away from printing position. It will be observed that the platen arm has a relatively short movement, and that the actual impression movement of the platen is not dependent upon any movement of the platen arm, and therefore the snapping platen could be embodied with a fixed platen arm to operate in the same manner as it is herein deression blow of.

scribed to operate with a movable platen arm, and with the same results. The movement of the cam 11 through its connections with the rocker 26 causes the platen support to swing and tension the actuating spring 19 and when this spring is properly tensioned it is automatically released to produce the impression blow of the platen. And on this im' pression blow the spring 43 is tensioned to cause the snubber plate to operate to retract the platen quickly from impression position. The platen is spring-actuated in its movement in'both directions, in itsdown movement by the spring 19 and in its initial up movement by'the' spring l3. On the return movement of the operating cam 11 the tripper arm 25 is swung forward, to the right, Fig. 6, to the position shown in Fig. and in this forward movement it rides over the upper end of the latch 20, causing said latch to swing downward and tensioning the spring 3 which returns the latch to normal position against the adjusting screw bolt 35 after the arm has passed.

I am aware that my invention may be embodied in machines of different kinds and that changes in the form, construction and arrangement of parts may be made to adapt the invention for different embodiments, and for other purposes, and I reserve the right to make all such changes as fall within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of a platen for printing machines, a movable support, a platen arm, a spring operating upon said support, and means for tensioning said spring to swing said support and impart a quick snapping impression blow to the platen when said arm is moved.

2. The combination of a platen for printing machines, a movable support for the platen, a spring connected to the support, a latch on the support'and a tripper arm movable in one direction from normal position to operate on the latch to tension the spring for imparting a quick snapping impression blow to the platen and me ns permitting said tripper to move past said latch in the other direction back into normal position.

3. The combination of a platen fer printing machines, a movable platen arm, a movable support for the platen and mounted on said platen arm, a spring connected to said support, a latch on the support, a tripper engaging the latch, operating means for moving said platen arm, and means operable from the operating means for moving the tripper to tension the spring for imparting a quick snapping impression blow to the platen when the tripper is disen aged from the latch.

- 4. The combination of a platen for print ing machines, a movable support for the platen, means operating on said platen for impart-ing thereto a quick snapping impres- Llu arm for printing sion blow at each printing operation of the machine, an arm on the support and means cooperating with said arm for quickly withdrawing the platen from impression position.

5. The combination of a platen for printing machines, a movable support for the platen, means operating on said platen for imparting a quick snapping impression blow at each printing operation of the machine, an arm on said support, a cam device cooperating with said arm for withdrawing the platen from impression position, and means for operating said cam device immediately after the impression blow of the platen.

6. The combination of a platen for printing machines, a movable support for the platen, means operating on said platen for imparting thereto a quick snapping impression blow at each printing operation of the machine, a platen arm carrying the platen support, and means for automatically operating said platen support to retract the platen immediately after the impression blow.

7. The combination of a movable platen machines, a platen movable conjointly with and independently of said arm, and spring means for tensioning said platen to impart thereto a quick snapping impression blow independent of the platen arm movement at each printing operation of the machine;

8. The combination of a movable platen arm for printing machines, a platen, a spring means for tensioning said platen toimpart thereto a quick snapping impression blow independent of the platen arm movement at each printing operation of the machine, and means operating independently of the movement of the platen arm for retracting the platen quickly after the impression blow.

9. The combination of a platen for printing machines, means operating on said platen for imparting thereto a quick snappingimpression blow at each printing operation of the machine, and a cushion device interposed in said platen operating means for arresting the quick snapping blow of said platen.

10. The combination of a platen for printing machines, a pivotally mounted support carrying said platen, a spring connected to said support, a latch for holding said support against movement by said spring, means operable against said spring whereby when said means disengages said latch said support will be moved to snap said platen into impression position, and means for slightly withdrawing said platen from impression position immediately after movement of said platen into said position.

11. The combination of a platen for printing machines, a pivotally mounted support carrying said platen, a spring connected to said support, a latch for holding said support against movement by said spring, means operable against said latch for tensioning said latch for tensioning said.

spring whereby when said means disengages said latch'saidsupport will be moved to snap said platen into impression position, an arm pivotally mounted on said support, a spring urged member on which a member on said arm rides, said member on said arm moving said spring urged member to tension said spring during the impression stroke of said platen whereby this spring will act through said spring urged member and the member on said arm to slightly withdraw said platen from impression position immediately after movement thereinto.

12. The combination of a platen for printing machines, a platen arm, a platen support pivotally mounted on said platen arm, a spring connected to said platen support urging said platen toward impression position,

a latch for retaining said platen support against the action of said spring, a member movable against said latch to tension said spring whereby the platen on said support will be moved into impression position when said member disengages said latch, means for slightly. withdrawing said platen from impression position immediately after move ment thereinto, and means for moving said platen arm whereby said platen will move toward impression position simultaneously with the movement imparted thereto by said spring and whereby said platen will be withdrawn from impression position immediately after the operation of the means for slightly withdrawin the platen.

13. In a printing machine, a frame, a platen arm, an operating member for imparting movement to said platen arm, a platen movable. into impression position to make an impression from a printing device in said frame, a support forsaid platen pivotally mounted on said platen arm, a spring urging said platen into impression position, latching means holding said platen out of impression position and acting against said spring, and means operable from said operatingmember for quickly releasing said latching means whereby said-spring will rapidly move said platen into impression position after said operating member has moved said platen arm to move said platen toward said impression position. 7

14. In a printing machine, a frame, a platen arm, an operating member for imparting movement to said platen arm, a platen movable into impression position tomake an impression from a printing device in said frame, a support for said platen pivotally mounted on said platen arm, a spring urging said platen into impression position, latching means holding said platen against the action of said spring, means operable from said operating member for releasing said latching means to permit said spring to rapidly move said platen into impression position, an arm on said support and movable therewith, and

means acting on said arm for quickly moving saidplaten from impression position immediately after movement of said platen into impression position.

15. In a printing machine, a frame, a platen arm, an operating member for imparting movement to said platen arm, a platen movable into impression position to make an impression from a printing device in said frame, a support for said platen pivotally mounted on said platen arm, a spring urging said platen into impression position, latching means holding said platen out of impression position, releasing means operable from said operating member to move from a normal position to release said latching means after said operating member has moved said platen arm to move said platen toward impression position whereby when said latching means is released said platen will quickly move into impression position, and means permitting said releasing means to move past said latching means back into normal position as said operati member moves said platen arm to from impression po- D move said platen away sition aft-er an impression has been made thereby.

16. In a printing machine, a frame, a platen arm, an operating member for imparting movement to said platen arm, a platen movable into impression position to make an impression from a printing device in said frame, a support for said platen pivotally mounted on said platen arm, a spring urging said platen into impression position, latching means holding said platen out of impression position, releasing means operable trom said operating member to move from a normal position to release saidlatching means after said operating member has moved said platen arm to move said platen toward impression position whereby, when said latching means is released said platen will quickly move into impression position, an arm on said support and movable therewith,

Withdrawing means acting on said arm for quickly moving said platen from impression position immediately after movement of said platen into impression position, and means permitting said releasing 'means to move past said latching means back into normal .position after said withdrawing means has mo red said platen from impression position as said operating member moves said platen away from impression position.

HENRY E, HUBBARD. 

